ICA 6th Annual Meeting to focus on Regional Infrastructure

29 April 2010

Members of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa will focus on regional infrastructure issues at their annual meeting in Tunis next week.

The 6th Annual Meeting of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA), which helps to improve the lives and economic well-being of Africa’s people through encouraging, supporting and promoting investment in infrastructure across the continent, will take place in Tunis on 6 and 7 May 2010.

Co-hosted by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the theme of this year’s meeting will be Integrating African Economies through Regional Infrastructure. Commenting in advance of the meeting, the African Development Bank’s Vice-President, Bobby J Pittman, said:

“The challenge of achieving regional economic integration requires, among others, regional solutions;  African institutions, such as the AU Commission, NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency, working together with the Regional Economic Communities to deliver improvements in trans-boundary infrastructure.”

The ICA’s Co-ordinator, Alex Rugamba, added:

“This meeting, which will bring Africa’s continent-wide and regional institutions together with G8 countries and major multilateral agencies, illustrates how coordination through the ICA can foster the development of Africa’s regional infrastructure, for the benefit of all of Africa’s people.”
   
The meeting will be attended by senior representatives of G8 governments, multilateral agencies such as the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, and by African institutions such as the African Union Commission, NEPAD, the Regional Economic Communities and regional development banks.  Senior representatives from the Arab Funds Coordination Group, China, Korea and India will also attend.

Discussions at the meeting will focus on Delivering Regional Infrastructure in Africa, in particular by Accelerating Successful Implementation of Regional Infrastructure Programmes. There will also be a workshop on Public-Private Partnership Frameworks for Regional Infrastructure.

Notes to Editors

1. The ICA Annual Meeting will be co-chaired by David Moloney, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Bobby J. Pittman, Vice-President, Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, AfDB.
2. Requests for pre-meeting interviews with Alex Rugamba, Coordinator of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) and/or with key participants should be addressed to the ICA’s Communications Consultant (details below).
3. A press conference will take place at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, Gammarth at 1300 on Friday 7 May 2010.  David Moloney (Executive Vice President, CIDA), Bobby J Pittman (Vice-President, AfDB) and Alex Rugamba (Coordinator, ICA) will brief the media about the meeting and answer questions.
4. Media representatives who would like to attend the press conference should notify Donia Ben Saad at the ICA at:
   Email: d.bensaad@afdb.org;
   Tel: + 216 71 10 2982;
   Fax: +216 71 10 3788.
5. The 2009 meeting was held in Rome in March 2009 whilst Italy was holding the Presidency of the G8. View the outcomes statement (in French and English) from the 2009 meeting.
6. The role of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is to help improve the lives and economic well-being of Africa’s people through encouraging, supporting and promoting increased investment in infrastructure in Africa.  Acting as a catalyst, the ICA works to enhance and accelerate the development of Africa’s infrastructure, and to help remove technical and policy barriers.  The ICA was launched at the G8 Summit in 2005.

Download press release in English [PDF 1MB]